Premier League, the results: De Zerbi tied in Leicester, West Ham and Aston Villa win

After the 0-0 draw between Liverpool and Chelsea, Saturday of the 21st round of the Premier League continued with Brighton forced to a 2-2 comeback draw against Leicester and the Italians’ West Ham who returned to winning ways after 3 months further injuring Frankie Lampard and his Everton.

Leicester-Brighton 2-2

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Ups and downs. De Zerbi wanted another win from his Brighton side in Leicester, to follow up on last day’s spectacular 3-0 win against Liverpool. Instead, the seagulls leave King Power Stadium with an equal caught by the hair two minutes into the 90th minute, after having taken the lead first. The good news for De Zerbi still comes from Evan Ferguson, the 18-year-old Irishman who scored the equalizer, from Mitoma, probably Brighton’s fittest man, and finally from Estupinian, author of two assists.

The two avoidable goals conceded, however, are the confirmation that there is something to fix in defense. The first draw after two wins takes Brighton to 31 points in the standings, the same as sixth-placed Fulham. The first point after 4 defeats in a row instead allows Leicester to move forward in a complicated fight not to relegate, in which the Foxes will also need help from the market to stay out of trouble. In the 27th minute, Mitoma put the visitors ahead with a magic, but in the 37th minute Leicester equalized through Albrighton, who overtook Sanchez on the third team attempt. Brighton invoke a penalty at the beginning of the second half, which the referee does not grant even after the intervention of the Var, despite the protests of De Zerbi, but in the 63rd minute it is Leicester who pass through Barnes, who takes advantage of a bad mistake by the defense to put in from two steps. Brighton asked Ferguson again for help, this time starting from the bench, and the 18-year-old Irishman responded by heading the equalizer in the 88th minute, collecting an assist from Estupinian.

West Ham-Everton 2-0

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The first victory in the Premier League since 24 October restores oxygen to West Ham and aggravates Everton’s position, last at 15 points with Southampton and with Frankie Lampard’s bench increasingly hanging by a thread, also because the next two games are with Arsenal and Liverpool. The hero for the Irons, with Ogbonna (another excellent performance in central defense) and Emerson starting and Scamacca out due to injury, is Jarrod Bowen, author of the decisive brace between 34′ and 41′ to dedicate to the twins that his partner he just announced to wait. It is also a breath of fresh air for coach David Moyes, whose sacking in the event of a failure to win had already been decided. West Ham had lost 6 of the previous 7 games, scoring 4 goals in all: they are now on 18 points, but with the challenges with Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham on the way, the Irons must continue to watch their backs. Everton stopped at 15 but have no one behind: it is the third defeat in a row, the eighth consecutive without a win (6 knockouts) and in an increasingly dramatic situation, with the fans who also in London contested the club, its main target. West Ham broke the impasse in the 34th minute with Bowen, good at pounced on Zouma’s header deflected by Tarkowski. Before the break Bowen strikes again, making it 2-0 with a stubborn assist from Antonio. Everton was more aggressive in the second half, but West Ham created the best chances, including the crossbar which in the 65th minute helped Pickford save himself from a nice shot by Emerson.

THE OTHERS

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Southampton-Aston Villa had to stop for 10′ just before the end of the first half due to the presence of a drone flying over St. Mary’s Stadium: the referee stopped the game for safety reasons and sent the two teams back to the changing rooms, resuming only after the ok of the police. The match was decided by Watkins, who in the 77th minute signed the third victory in four games for Villa and left Southampton bottom of the table with Everton. The salvation clash between Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest ended 1-1: the advantage of the hosts signed by Anthony in the 28th minute was followed by the equalizer by Surridge in the 83rd minute. Forest at 21 with the fourth useful result in a row, Bournemouth less calm at 18 and winless for 5 rounds. At 18.30 Italian Crystal Palace-Newcastle closes the program of the day.